


When Granger meets Jackson

by WordWiz777



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Genre: Charlie Weasley is a Good Sibling, Children, Estelle is an adorable kid, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fred Weasley Lives, Friendship, Gen, Love, Luna Lovegood is a Good Friend, Luna is Annabeth's sister, Magic, Marriage, Minor Angelina Johnson/George Weasley, Minor Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Minor Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Non-Canon Relationship, Nymphadora Tonks Lives, One Big Happy Family, Post-Hogwarts, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28810371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordWiz777/pseuds/WordWiz777
Summary: Hermione Granger is pleasantly surprised to find out that her mum's sister Sally is alive and living in New York when she comes home for Christmas break in her eighth year at Hogwarts. An unexpected trip to New York is organised so that the sisters can reconnect after 20 years and spend Christmas as a big family. She's really excited to meet her cousin Percy, who's only a year younger than her.Percy Jackson is hoping for a quiet and happy family Christmas when he learns that his mother has gotten in contact with her sister Monica and the Grangers are coming to New York to spend Christmas together. He's really glad to find out that the Grangers don't want him dead and gets on well with his new cousin Hermione.(Lots of fluff and wholesome interactions, adorable babies and toddlers featuring the Weasley, Blofis, Longbottom and Jackson families)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson) & Hermione Granger, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Hermione Granger & Percy Jackson, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Fred Weasley
Comments: 18
Kudos: 93





	1. Hermione - I

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on Wattpad and Fanfiction.net under the same username.

After getting down from the Hogwarts express, I waved goodbye to Luna and Neville, and went to towards the Weasleys with Ginny. Harry and Ron were waiting for us at the platform, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. smiled when she saw us, and hurried towards us, enveloping first Ginny, and then me, in a bone-crushing hug.

I had decided to accept Professor McGonagall's offer to redo seventh year as I needed the N.E.W.T.S to apply for a job in the Magical Law Enforcement Department at the Ministry. At first, I didn't intend to join the Ministry, seeing the way they treated Harry before the defeat of Voldemort. Corruption had been rampant, and it was obvious to anyone with a brain how useless the Ministry was.

But then, the war with Voldemort happened, and Kingsley was promoted from temporary to permanant Minister by a unanimous vote of the Wizengamot. Together with the new Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, the new Head of the Auror Office and Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Kingsley had managed to weed out corruption from the ministry, with Dolores Umbridge being the first one to be fired and sent to Azkaban for her crimes against Muggleborns.

This newer, better version of the ministry gave me an incentive to join them, and take S.P.E.W further. The result of all this was that I returned to Hogwarts to finish my final year, while Ron and Harry chose to join Auror training, which all three of us had been offered, despite our lack of N.E.W.T.S.

Anyway, I gave Harry and Ron a big hug, before telling them about the changes in Hogwarts. About ten minutes later, my parents arrived at the station to pick me up. Making Harry promise to Video Chat over the holidays, I shouldered my duffel bag and dragged my trunk over to my parents.

"Ready?" Dad asked. I nodded. He picked up the other end of my trunk and helped me carry it to the car. Soon, we were on our way home.

Mum kept looking back at me in the rearview mirror the whole time, with a wierd expression on her face. Tired of it, I asked her. "What is it, Mum?" She jumped, and shared a look with my Dad. "Do you remember me telling you about my sister, Sally?"

"Uh huh..."

"Well, I managed to track her down. She's in America. New York, to be exact. I spoke to her over the telephone, and we decided that the three of us should go to New York to spend Christmas together after more than twenty years, as both she and her son are afraid of flying."

She turned around in her seat, and gave me a hesitant smile. "I hope you don't mind us arranging the trip, Hermione. We know you wanted to spend Christmas with the Weasleys, but its been almost twenty years since we last saw each other."

I had often fantasised about having siblings as a kid, and having a cousin was the next best thing! In fact, I was disappointed that Mum and Aunt Sally hadn't got in touch earlier, so that I could have met my cousin when we were younger. I definitely did not mind giving up Christmas at the Burrow with the Weasleys and Harry to meet my Aunt and Cousin.

"Of course not Mum! I'm excited to meet them. When are we flying out?"

"The day after tomorrow, early in the morning," Dad replied, "Better start packing."

That reminded me, "If we're going for Christmas, I'll need gifts for them! I'll go gift shopping today, so I can pack them tomorrow. Mum, can you tell me about Aunt Sally and her family to help me buy them presents?"

"She is three years younger than me, and moved to America with our uncle when I was nineteen. I was supposed to follow them along with your grandparents a month later, but ended up staying for six more months so that I could finish college. My parents left without me, and their plane..." Here, she broke off with a sob.

Taking a deep breath, Mum continued, "Sally chose adoption when she heard of the crash, assuming that I died with our parents, and legally changed her name to Sally Jackson. I never could afford to travel to the States and look for her until my marriage. When I finally got there, I came to know that she had dropped out of college to look after Uncle Richard, and disappeared after he died of cancer. I never found any trace of her in the three weeks your father and I stayed there."

"She told me that her son Percy is eighteen, and that she married a schoolteacher, Paul Blofis, two years ago. She also said she has a one-year old daughter, Estelle. She's a critically acclaimed author, and has published six books till now."

Wait a second... Sally Jackson-Blofis is my aunt? I've read and reread her novels until I know them by heart! Her interpretations of the ancient myths are amazing! Her novels are a collection of short stories from ancient myths all around the world, and the lessons we can learn from each. She also writes about the common misconceptions people have about native religions around the world. It would be a dream come true to meet her!

When I asked mum for gift suggestions, she told me that her sister had told her about her newest book on the Asian myths, and complained about difficulty in finding information on Chinese mythology that wasn't in the Chinese script. Aunt Sally had also mentioned that Percy loved the sea, and annoyed her until she read books about marine life out loud for him, as he had Dyslexia. Mum suggested toys for baby Estelle, and something teacher-related for uncle Paul.

As soon as we reached home, I rushed to my room, changed, grabbed my purse, and Apparated to London. I bought gifts for my parents and wizarding friends in Diagon Alley, before turning to Muggle London to buy something for the Americans and . Some toys for Estelle, an beautiful pen engraved with his name for uncle Paul, and a set of books on Chinese myths, which the owner of Flourish and Blotts was happy to cast a spell on to translate it to English.

I got Percy a big, stuffed Nemo plushie as a gag gift and a jar full of Aqueous Planarius, a rare type of undersea plant, found only in the UK region.

The next morning, I helped Mum quickly clean the house with a few spells had taught me, before going out with her for her Christmas shopping. I offered to help her pack, but she sent me off to the Burrow. "Go and atleast spend some time there. Your boyfriend wont be too happy that your missing your first Christmas as a couple. Go on, shoo..."

I blushed when I thought about Fred. We had gotten together a week after the Battle of Hogwarts. It was only when I saw him unconscious and injured very badly, that I realised that I cared for Fred as more than a friend. The other Weasleys were glad to have me over, and they all encouraged me to spend time with him, and help him get over Percy's death. Fred kept blaming himself, as Percy had sacrificed himself to push Fred away from a collapsing wall, which crushed the older boy instead.

As soon as I Apparated outside the Burrow, I heard voices arguing loudly. It sounded like Ron and George, or was it Fred? No, definitely George. "-did you do that? There was absolutely no reason to-"

"Bloody hell there wasn't! She was seen in the company of Dolohov, Rookwood and Rosier! They're all known Death Eaters! Of course I had to-"

"ENOUGH!" That was Ginny. "Will the two of you take your yelling upstairs to Ron's room where I can't hear you, or should I start practicing my hexes right now?" There was a sound of running feet, and the house was suddenly quiet. Chuckling, I stepped inside the sitting room, where Harry was trying to calm an irate Ginny, who was angrily muttering threats. He looked up when I came in, and smiled. "Hey Mione! Here to see Fred?" I nodded. "He's in his room."

Upstairs, Fred was alone in his room, his head in his hands, looking at a piece of parchment spread out on his bed. He smiled at me when I came in. Before I could tell him about the trip, he said, "Hermione! Please help me with this! I need to borrow your brain! Please!" He pulled me down into his lap, and pointed to the parchment. It was a set of complex steps to make their patented Daydream Charms. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I want to modify them such that you are able to relieve your dreams, and not just daydream." I suggested a few modifications, and a book I had read about Lucid Dreams. I began, "Fred-" He cut me off, "Thank you, love. I don't know what I'd do without you." he gave me a quick peck on the cheek, before running out, no doubt to find George.

I went back downstairs to find Charlie sitting on the sofa, with Harry. Ginny was nowhere to be seen. They waved at me, and I joined them. "So what was the yelling about when I came in?" They both groaned. "Well, you know about Verity, right?" Charlie began.

"Isn't she the shop assistant at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

"And George's girlfriend. The day before yesterday, the Auror Office got a call that she had been seen a number of times in the company of three death eaters who escaped from Ministry custody before their trial. Ron was sent to bring her in for questioning. He went about it the wrong way, completely frightening her into a panic attack. She ran out of the shop, and has been missing for the past two days. We've all gotten tired of hearing the two boys fighting about her. You heard Ginny blow up." Harry explained, looking exhausted.

Charlie rubbed his head. "Those two give me bigger headaches than the dragons, and that's saying something. Mum can usually get them to shut up, but she's gone with Andromeda to take Teddy to to visit Tonks. He keeps making sad faces all the time, asking for her, and is terribly confused and scared when she doesn't reply when he talks to her. I really wish Remus had survived..."

"How is she? Is there any improvement in her condition?" I asked him. Charlie shook his head. "She's breathing steady, and her organs are working perfectly...but she's not responding to the healing charms to wake her up from the coma." He looked downcast, worried for his friend. Turns out, Tonks was only a year older than him, and the two had been great friends in their Hogwarts days, despite being in different houses.

We'd gotten much closer after the war, when Charlie decided to leave Romania and start a dragon sanctuary in Britain, allowing him to spend a lot of time with his family. I knew him as well as I did the other Weasleys, and he called me as his little sister.

"We're all just waiting for Fred to summon his courage and propose, and then you'll really become my sister, so why not start calling you sis already?" He would laugh whenever I asked him about it.

I pulled both him and Harry into a much needed group hug. They both sniffled, and hugged me back. We stayed like that for some time, taking comfort in each other. Finally, the boys let go, and lifted their heads from my shoulders.

I suddenly remembered what I had come to tell them. "Oh! I almost forgot! Mum recently got in touch with her sister after twenty years of no contact and they want us to spend Christmas together as a family in New York. We've extended our stay in America, so I wont be able to see you till the last two days of the holidays. If Fred starts yelling, tell him that I would have informed him myself if he hadn't run off without listening to me."

They smiled, knowing Fred and his antics quite well. "We will, don't worry. You enjoy your trip." I waved goodbye, before Apparating back home.

Mum was in her room, counting and weighing suitcases. She seemed quite frustrated. "Hermione dear, could you remove something from your case, its one kilogram too heavy. Maybe a book or two?" I made a face at her, but obeyed. I took two books out, leaving the bag just below the appropriate weight to take on a flight.

Once she finished weighing them, I levitated the cases down the stairs to the sitting room, where Dad was just coming in from the ticket office with our airplane tickets. I could have used featherlight charms on the bags to make them lighter, but Mum and Dad were firmly against such stuff.

"All packed and ready?" He asked. I nodded. "I've got a packed dinner from your favourite restaurant, so that we can get into bed early. We've got an early start tomorrow."


	2. Percy - I

"Mom! I'm home!" I yelled, walking in the front door with the groceries. "Leave them on the counter!" She yelled back from somewhere inside the apartment. Dumping the heavy bags on the kitchen counter, I just put the ice-cream and milk inside the fridge so that it didn't spoil before going to find Mom.

She was in my sister, Estelle's room, putting away the freshly laundered clothes. "Thank you, Percy. Paul's gone on a walk with Estelle, so I thought I'd get the laundry done. Did you manage to find everything?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Even got discounts on a lot of it. But tell me Mom, why so many groceries? It's twice the stuff I normally buy. Is there anything special happening?"

She suddenly stopped folding clothes, and looked me straight in the eye. "Percy, you remember when I told you about my sister, right?"

"Yup. You said that you hadn't seen her for years and she most likely died in the plane crash with your parents..." I replied, curious.

"Well, she's alive, and she married a man named Henry Granger. They want to meet us for Christmas."

"Wait what?" She told me the story of how the two of them had been separated. Turns out, the two of them and their parents were moving from Europe to the USA. Mom had left first with her uncle a few weeks before my grandparents, to get everything ready for when they came.

Out of the blue, she'd heard the news that the plane the rest of her family was supposed to be on had crashed, and there were no survivors. Mom had quit college to look after her uncle and she left the city soon after his death, wanting to make a fresh start in New York. Now, nearly twenty years later, Mom's books had made their way to print in England, where Monica had recognized her sister from the picture on the cover of the book and contacted her.

"Can Annabeth come too?" I asked eagerly. "Her family's going on a vacation without her."

"Of course! In fact, my sister Monica told me that her daughter is coming with them as well. Her name's Hermione, she's eighteen, and she loves books. She might like to meet Annabeth."

"I have another sister? A year older than me?"

"Yes you do, dear. Now go tell Annabeth that she is going to spend Christmas with us." She smiled, "You can take the Vespa!"

Happy, I rushed out of the apartment and grabbed the keys to the ride, before running down the stairs. Gunning the engine of her blue scooter, I put on a helmet before driving through the streets of the city to get to Long Island.

Parking in the shade of Thalia's tree, I petted Peleus on the head, and entered Camp. Going straight to the Athena Cabin, I knocked on the door.

It was opened by Luna, one of Annabeth's half sisters. "Hey Percy! Here to see Annabeth?"

"Uh-huh. She there Luna?"

"Nope. She did say something about sword practice with the Ares kids, though. Check the training grounds. You might find her there. It was nice talking to you, Percy, but I must get back to my work."

She slammed the door in my face. She did tell me to check the training grounds, so I that's what I did. A mob of campers were crowded around, yelling, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!", and pumping their fists in the air. I couldn't see who was fighting through the crowd.

I saw Butch, son of Iris standing there. Tapping him on the shoulder, I asked him, "What's going on? Who's fighting?"

"You've gotta see this man. Your girlfriend's kicking the Ares kids' butts." He turned to the crowd. "OKAY PEOPLE, YOU'VE SEEN ENOUGH! LET THE MAN THROUGH! MOVE!"

Shoving people left and right, he made enough space for me to get to the heart of the crowd. There, I saw Annabeth holding her own against five Ares campers, all attacking at the same time. She wasn't even out of breath, while her opponents were sweating buckets, and sporting bruises and small cuts.

"Want any help, Wise Girl?" I called out.

"Oh hey, Percy. Be with you in a sec." She replied, before looking her opponents straight in the eye. "Yield now, and you won't get hurt anymore."

"We are the children of war! We do not yield, especially to Athena's children!" They yelled in response.

As soon as she heard that, my awesome girlfriend jumped high in the air, doing a weird split kick to the back of two of their heads, knocking them out on the spot. She then spun around and judo flipped the third dude, causing him to crash to the ground hard, and groan in pain. The next to were taken out with quick punches to the jaw.

Tucking her knife back into her boot, she spoke to them. "You boys have to learn that you must train long and hard to be good at combat. Just because Ares is your father does not mean that you will automatically be good at fighting. Remember that, and you can do much better next time."

The kids were dragged off to the infirmary by their siblings, and the crowd thinned, everyone going back to their activities.

"What did you want, Seaweed Brain?" She asked, letting her hair loose from the ponytail she had tied in into while fighting. She looked like a total warrior with her armour, combat boots and wicked cool hair, and I felt a strong urge to kiss her. I didn't realise that I had zoned out, staring at her face until she slapped me in the face.

"Ouch! Oh, right! I wanted to ask if you would spend Christmas with us. My Aunt and Mom are meeting again after years, and Mom kinda wants you there. So... What do you say, Wise Girl?"

I saw one of her rare wide smiles light up her face. "Of course I'll be come. Pack my stuff and meet you outside my cabin in an hour." Giving me a small peck on the cheek, she ran off.

Seeing that the arena was empty, I decided to get some sword practice in rather than waste my time doing nothing while waiting for Annabeth.

I spend the hour slashing, stabbing and trying out new moves on the dummies with Riptide. I stopped a few minutes before the hour was up and sprinted to the lake to clean up a little and not meet my girlfriend when I'm sweaty and smelly. Whatever girls may think, we guys do care about personal hygiene, especially when they're picking up their girlfriends for a ride on a two-wheeler.

She was waiting for me at the central hearth. "Let go!" I cheered, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. She dug her heels into the ground and refused to move, though. "I have to tell Chiron first. Then I'll come with you."

Impatiently tapping my foot, I waited with her bag slung over my shoulder as she ran off to the Big House. It seemed like years before she came back, her blonde curls flying in the wind as she jogged up to me. "Can we go now?" I whined like a little kid.

"Yeah. Come on!" Holding hands, we walked to Thalia's pine where I had parked the Vespa. "I got my license last week." I told her excitedly. Taking the helmet I offered, Annabeth got up behind me and wrapped her arms around me, holding on as we speeded through the city.

Pretty soon, we were back home. Mom and Paul had shifted to a bigger apartment that was closer to both Camp and Goode, making it convenient for both Paul and me. Also, the bigger place meant that both Estelle and I got our own rooms and I could visit more often.

Paul was sitting on the couch in the living room, Estelle on his lap, as he read a book out loud to her with the accompanying sound effects. She was giggling adorably as he made various noises and tickled her. As soon as I walked in with Annabeth, she looked up and laughed. "Bubba! Bubba!" she said, holding out her hands in the I-wanna-be-picked-up gesture. I never could resist her cute little face and the way she called me "Bubba!" always melted my heart. She couldn't say my name, and bubba was the closest she got to brother, but I loved it.

"I think you'd like someone even more." I stepped aside, letting her see Annabeth. "An-An!" She happily squealed as my girlfriend lifted her up and gave her a hug. For some reason, Estelle loved Annabeth. I was pretty sure it was because of her long hair. Estelle loved running her fingers through Annabeth's hair whenever she came to visit, watching it shine in the sunlight.

A few hours later, after putting Estelle to sleep in her crib, we were sitting around the dinner table and talking when Annabeth asked, "Sally, Percy said something about your sister coming to celebrate Christmas together..."

"Oh yeah. My sister Monica is coming with her husband Henry and daughter Hermione. We haven't seen each other for more than twenty years." Annabeth had nearly spit out her drink when she heard my cousin's name. "I-Is their surname Granger?" She asked, quickly swallowing the hot chocolate.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Annabeth looked ready to bang her head on the table. "Luna told me about her."

"Luna? Your half-sister?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. I need you all to promise not to tell anyone else what I'm going to say. Until then, I can't tell you."

We swore on the Styx to not tell anyone except for those who already knew the secret Annabeth was going to tell us, and she finally began her story. "Witches and Wizards exist. Lady Hecate blessed a few mortals and they together with her many children formed a hidden society of witches and wizards right under our noses. We have the Mist to hide us, but they must rely on spells and potions to disguise themselves."

"Whoa, wait a sec. You're telling me there's people who wear pointy hats and robes who fly around on brooms and mix weird ingredients to make potions while shooting out spells from wooden sticks?"

She looked surprised. "Actually, yeah. All that you said is true. They wear robes, and use wands to cast spells, they brew various potions, and play a sport on broomsticks. But that's beside the point. The main thing is that there is a lot of prejudice amongst them on the basis of blood. They consider the witches and wizards who have come from generations of magic users to be 'pure' and superior to those who have been born to mortal, or as they call it, 'muggle' parents."

"Many Dark Wizards have risen to power, and the latest one has been the strongest of them all. Lord Voldemort as he called himself, believed that the purebloods should rule and everyone else must bow to them. There was a prophecy that a kid would beat him and it was fulfilled by a boy named Harry Potter earlier this year. Hermione was one of his best friends, and she spent seven years of her life fighting alongside him. They spent the last year on the run on a sort of Quest to weaken the evil wizard before a final battle where he was killed. She's a very famous war hero in the Wizarding World, one-third of the Golden Trio, who are like the Wizarding equivalent of the Seven."

Mom looked surprised and Paul had a I'm-so-done-with-this-schist look. Wanting to clear the air, I said, "Well mom, I think it's official that I'll never have normal relatives. Dad's side is well, dad's side, and now, this? It was like I was fated to not have a normal life either way."

Mom asked hesitantly, "I-is my sister a witch?"

"No. Hermione's one of the muggle-born witches, meaning both her parents are non-magical. The irony of the situation is that the majority of their society looks down upon these so called 'mudbloods' when they're the most powerful, considering that their magic is directly got from Hecate and not diluted by lots of generations like the 'purebloods' is." Annabeth gave a bitter laugh. "Luna needed some help with the after-effects of the war, and I sort of became her therapist."

I was shocked by the backward thinking of the wizards, but hearing that my cousin was a war hero made me even more excited to meet her. "When are they coming, mom?" I asked.

"Monica said that they would come here on the evening of the 23rd. They didn't want to impose and had already booked rooms in a hotel nearby." The 23rd? That was two days away! I couldn't wait for the days to pass so that I could meet my older cousin.

Annabeth looked to me as if she suddenly remembered something. "If they're coming for Christmas, then we'll have to get them presents! Sally, could you tell me something about them so that I can help this idiot go buy presents tomorrow?"

Mom said, "Well, my sister always loved painting. She would often sit in front of a canvas and paint away for hours at a stretch, producing these really beautiful art pieces. She said her husband was a dentist, but didn't say much more about him. Her daughter's really clever and the top of her class since she was eleven. Monica said that Hermione loved reading and can always be found with her nose buried in a book."

Annabeth nodded, taking in the information. "You, me, Mall. Tomorrow." She declared, pointing a finger at me before going to bed. Paul patted me on the back. "Go to bed so that you can go gift shopping early tomorrow. It's always good to stay on the good side of scary people."


	3. Percy - II

Annabeth had to practically drag me out of my warm, comfy bed the next morning. I hated getting up early, and even more so when I had to go shopping, especially when it was for gifts. I never seemed to be able to decide what I wanted to buy, and usually ended up second-guessing myself a million times after choosing something. Thankfully, Annabeth was much better at this than me, and she was able to help me find something for everyone before I started getting antsy with my ADHD.

We split up at the end so that she could buy my present, and I, hers. I knew that everyone would give her books, so I decided to buy her something else. A jewelry store caught my eye, and I went inside, hoping to buy Annabeth something she'd like. Despite her hatred of dresses and makeup, Annabeth loved jewelry, especially when it meant something. She still wore the owl earrings her dad had got her years ago, as well as her camp necklace and the coral pendant I had given her back when we first started dating.

Having no ideas on what I wanted, I was wandering around the shop, just looking at stuff till a shop assistant came up to me. "You look quite lost, can I help you find something?" She asked.

"Uh-yeah. I'm looking for something for my girlfriend as a Christmas gift."

"Does she have any specific taste?"

"Um... She doesn't like flashy or over the top stuff."

"Any favourite colours?" The woman was now leading me to a display of earrings.

"Not that I know of, but I think something silver or grey to match her eyes."

She gave me a smile, "It's really nice to see young men such as yourself putting thought into buying gifts for your significant others. She seems quite special, how long have you two been dating?"

"About a year and a half, but we've been best friends since we were twelve."

She showed me quite a number of earrings and bracelets, but none of them seemed quite right. I was slowly getting frustrated, but I had no plans of leaving till I bought Annabeth something. Suddenly, the woman seemed to have an idea. "What about a necklace, or maybe a custom locket that opens up to show a picture?"

It was a really nice idea, and I paid for a silver owl-shaped one before giving them the picture I wanted them to put in it. The nice woman suggested engraving Annabeth's name on the back of it, and I agreed to that before walking out of the shop and heaving a sigh of relief. I was finally finished! Quickly going back to the food court where we were supposed to meet, I was happy to see that Annabeth wasn't there yet.

Grabbing a table, I set down the bags I was lugging around, and ordered hot chocolate for both of us. Annabeth came in a couple of minutes later, and we were able to enjoy our drinks together before trudging back home through the freezing snow.

I was really excited for this Christmas, because it would be the first one I would get to spend with Estelle and my mom's family. My first proper family Christmas.

The next two days flew by, Annabeth keeping me busy with Christmas stuff and by the time we had collapsed onto the couch on the night of the 22nd, we were finally done decorating the house. There was a medium sized Christmas tree in the living room which Mom had made me drag into the house. Let me tell you, Christmas trees might look like twigs with stick leaves, but their weight is far from it.

Annabeth helped decorate the tree and all of us hung up a bunch of ornaments before realising that the big star that was supposed to be at the top was missing. Loud giggles told us who the culprit was, and the four of spent a full hour trying to catch Estelle as she crawled away from us at top speed. I was finally able to distract her with a floating ball of water and she dropped the ornament while trying to grab the ball of water.

Mom and Paul had bought a lot of candy, but I wasn't allowed to have more than a couple at a time. "I am not handling two kids on a sugar high at the same time." Was all that Mom said, before taking the bag of jellybeans from my hand and disappearing off to Gods-knew-where with it. There were lots of such incidents, but I can say that we managed to decorate the house without blowing anything up, which was a new record for me.

Annabeth and I were cuddling on the couch and watching a movie when Mom called out from Estelle's room. "Percy?"

"Yeah Mom?"

"I just got a call from Monica saying that they're on their way. Do you two mind going downstairs and helping them with their bags?"

"We'll be right down, Mom!" I yelled, before slowly getting up. The loss of warmth was sudden, and I let out an involuntary shiver as Annabeth pulled the blanket off of me. She threw a jacket to me and grabbed another one for herself, before giving me her patented you-better-come-if-you-value-your-life-glare.

Gulping, I put on the jacket and followed her out of the apartment and down the stairs. As we reached the ground floor, the main doors opened, and a middle-aged couple came inside, followed by a girl I assumed was their daughter. The woman took off her hat and scarf, exposing her face and I was quite surprised at the resemblance between my mom and her. There was no doubt that she was my aunt.

"Aunt Monica?" I asked, taking the small bag she was carrying.

"Percy? You're quite the handsome young man!"

I blushed a little at the compliment and she continued, gesturing to her husband "This is Henry," and then to her daughter, "Hermione." I smiled at both of them and pulled Annabeth forward. "This is my girlfriend Annabeth, who'll be celebrating Christmas with us. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. It's wonderful to meet you dear." Hermione was looking at Annabeth quite strangely. "Is something wrong, Hermione?" Uncle Henry asked.

She suddenly shook her head. "Oh no. It's just that Annabeth looks a lot like one of my friends back home."

"Luna?" I asked, "Luna Lovegood?"

"Yeah. Do you know her?" She looked surprised.

Annabeth laughed, "We're half-sisters, but we didn't grow up together or anything. She likes it in England with her dad and I prefer New York, so we just meet up during the holidays and such."

We were soon sitting in the living room of the apartment and Estelle was happily playing with me while the adults talked and Hermione and Annabeth had a separate conversation. I gave up trying to participate in their bookworm talk within the first two minutes, whispering to Estelle, "You won't become like An-An and your cousin, will you Stella? You'll give your poor brother company while the nerds talk, right?"

She giggled loudly and clapped her hands, which I took to be a yes. "Good girl!" I bopped her nose.

Thankfully the girls soon joined me and Stella and Hermione was graced with the name "My-My!" by my eloquent sister. Apparently, Annabeth had told Hermione that we were aware of magic, because she reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin wooden stick which I assumed was her wand. Waving it, she made colourful bubbles appear out of thin air and Stella had a wonderful time chasing them around the house.

After lunch, the three of us went out for a walk around the city and ended up having warm cups of coffee from Starbucks while Hermione told us about the absurdities of the Wizarding World. Apparently, they still used parchment and quills that had to be dipped in ink every few seconds to write. Half the population had never even heard of a pencil or pen before and robes were considered as the peak of fashion.

Later, the girls dragged me off to a bookstore that was hosting a Christmas sale to buy books. The dude behind the counter gave me a sympathetic look when I practically collapsed onto the counter with a crazy high stack of books. "Girlfriend?" He asked.

"And sister. I hate books."

"Why?" He was ringing them up.

"ADHD and Dyslexia. The letters start doing loop-the-loops around the page. Barely managed to scrape D's in class."

Before he could answer, Annabeth had come running and added another book onto the already teetering pile and I barely caught a few before the entire stack collapsed onto the floor with a series of loud thuds. Hermione insisted on paying for the entire set, saying, "I have more money than I know what to do with after everything that's happened. Everyone's been paying us for interviews and endorsements. It's really annoying, though. I can hardly go anywhere without being mobbed."

We slowly walked back home, clutching bags full of books and ploughing through the newly-fallen snow. Christmas decorations were now up all around the city and we took quite a lot of detours to see the weird and whacky stuff people had put up.

Finally, we came back home exhausted from our trip and collapsed onto the couch, too tired to do anything else. Mom, being the angel she was had already made blue cookies, and we had an absolute feast before going to bed. The Grangers returned to their hotel and promised to meet up for whatever Mom had planned for us to do on Christmas Eve.


	4. Hermione - II

I thought I was ready to meet Aunt Sally and her family from everything that I had heard about them from Mum, but it hit home only when I actually saw Percy come and meet us on the ground floor of the building. He was a complete stranger, but I somehow felt at ease as soon as I met him.

It was as if I was reunited with a long-lost childhood friend or something. I don't know if that was due to his uncanny resemblance to Harry or the fact that he was dating Luna's sister, but there was absolutely no awkwardness when we entered their apartment.

To my surprise, I found out that Annabeth loved books just as much as I did, despite her slight dyslexia and we had a rather enjoyable conversation about our favourite books and commiserating that neither of our boyfriends were the studious type. I was distracted by loud giggles from Estelle, and the two of us looked around to see Percy tickling her, apparently bored by our conversation. To my surprise, she came and sat in my lap within seconds of being introduced and I soon had a hyperactive toddler calling me "My! My!" and pulling my hair.

I quite enjoyed the small outing that Percy and Annabeth took me on in the evening, and the books were an added bonus. I felt a sense of satisfaction as I paid for the books, happy that I had finally spent some of my fortune on useful stuff. While in the bookstore, I managed to sneak away to secretly buy a few books for Annabeth, seeing that I hadn't bought her a Christmas present.

The next morning, Percy showed up at our hotel, offering to take me on a walk through Central Park while the adults went off somewhere with Estelle, to do 'boring grown-up stuff' as he put it. Percy said something about Annabeth being unexpectedly called up by a friend of theirs and wouldn't be back till evening, so we were stuck with each other for the rest of the day. He didn't seem to be annoyed or irritated by that thought, so I let it go and enjoyed my brother's company. A thrill of happiness shot through me every time I thought of Percy as my brother and it seemed, so...right.

We had a really great time wandering through Central Park, with him pointing out his favourite spots to hand out with his friends, blushing beet red when he pointed out the bench he had been sitting on with Annabeth the first time they said, "I love you" to each other. It was totally cheesy and sounded like something that happened in the movies, but I could clearly see that the two of them belonged with each other.

Annabeth was logical and rational, and her level-headedness balanced out Percy's impulsive nature and she exerted a surprising amount of control over my reckless cousin. He was totally head over heels for her and I knew she felt the same for him. Apparently, their summer camp taught fencing and Percy told me lots of stories about Annabeth kicking everyone's butts during the fights. She might look like Luna, but Annabeth had none of Luna's calm and easygoing nature. People usually underestimated Luna thanks to her dreamy aura, but it was impossible to make the same mistake with Annabeth.

We talked a little more about the wizarding world and Percy was nearly howling with laughter when I told him about the pranks Fred and George had pulled when they were in school. Once he had somewhat calmed down, he made kissy faces and wiggled his eyebrows saying, "Fred, huh? Never took you as someone who would date a prankster."

"Percy!" I smacked his arm. "Stop making that face!"

He just gave me a huge grin, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, before unexpectedly dumping a handful of snow on the back of my neck. I shrieked at the cold trickling down my back, before discreetly looking around for people. Once I confirmed that there were no muggles in the vicinity, I slipped my wand onto the sleeve of my jumper before enchanting the nearby snow into dozens of snowballs, ready to attack him.

He seemed to have realised his mistake, and held his hands up in surrender, backing away from me as he spoke, "Now, Hermione. Hasn't anyone told you that violence is not the way-"

A perfectly aimed snowball had landed right in his mouth, cutting off the rest of the sentence as he choked on it. Wiping away the snow from his face, he grinned from ear to ear, "It is so on now," before flinging another handful of snow at me. It turned into a full-on snowball fight and we called it a tie an hour later, red-cheeked from exhaustion and the cold, quite tired.

Though it was barely afternoon, the sky was darkening and I assumed that we were in for another bout of snow that evening, right in time for Christmas Eve. It was slowly getting colder as well, and Percy wrapped an arm around my shoulders while I held on to his waist, huddling together to ward off the cold.

Somehow, the topic once again turned to me and Fred, and I found myself admitting something to Percy that I had only realised a couple of days ago. "I-I think I'm in love with him, Percy." I whispered and he stopped in his tracks. "Are you sure?" He asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I-uh-think so." I shook my head, "No, I know so."

He groaned. "Come on, you aren't allowed to fall in love until I meet the guy and get to threaten him. I don't give a dam if your dad approves, Fred isn't in the clear unless he has the stamp of approval from the brother. Hasn't anyone told you about that basic rule of dating?"

I laughed at his disgruntled expression as he detailed his plans of threatening Fred and the various ways he would beat him up, content by the fact that he cared so much about me. There was a lull in the conversation after that, so I asked, "What did you get Annabeth for Christmas?"

"She had this thing for owls, so I got her an owl-shaped locket with a little picture of us inside and her name engraved on the back of it."

It was a really sweet gift and well thought out, and I told Percy as much. He just blushed and muttered something inaudible, before sighing. "I meant to give her something like that on Valentine's Day, but now I have to look for something else."

I thought about it for a few seconds, before saying, "What about a promise ring? You've been telling me all about how you guys are going to stay together forever and stuff, so why not a promise ring? It would prove to her that you're serious about this whole relationship thing and maybe people would start to realise that you're no longer a kid despite your maturity being on level with that of a five year old."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" He complained, but I could see that he was considering the idea. "Who knew you could be so romantic when you've been in just one relationship throughout your life, huh?"

"Aww, honey, that's so cute. But you've gotta remember that I'm a full year older than you. You're practically a baby!" I drawled in a horrible American accent, before pinching his cheeks like you would do to a baby. He swatted my hands away, but I simply stood on tiptoe and pulled down the hood of his jacket, ruffling his already messy hair.

"Mione!" He complained, dodging me as he tried to fix his hair, "I actually brushed it today morning!"

"You did?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep." He sounded quite insulted. "Mom wouldn't let me go out of the house looking like a 'delinquent' as she put it." He imitated Aunt Sally's voice, "If you're gonna spend the day with Hermione, then I want you to look presentable. No girl will agree to be seen with you in public if your hair looks like a rat's nest."

"Don't worry, Percy. I'll still walk with you if your hair looks bad. I don't mind how you look, but I will draw the line at spending a full day in the presence of a sweaty, smelly, teenage boy. There are enough of those that I'm forced to get along with at school, I can't do that during the holidays too."

He looked slightly relieved, but then destroyed the moment by saying, "What if it were Fred here?" When I refused to answer, he continued pestering me, "By the way, when are you going to tell him your little secret?"

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. "I don't know. I'll have to figure out the right time to tell him and it had to be when we're alone, but that's difficult in a house with eleven people living in it. Right now, it looks as if I'll have to wait until the end of the holidays when he'll come to see me off on the school train. Hopefully, I'll be able to work up the courage to tell him by then."

I was freaking out more and more at each sentence I said, and Percy seemed to realise it. He led me over to a nearby bench, where he sat down facing me. "Look, I know you're scared of losing what you have with him because he won't like what you're telling him. Believe me, I've been in your shoes before. I spent ages thinking about the right time to tell her, before accidentally blurting it out as we went for a walk right here in Central Park. Well, it worked out for us in the end, so who's saying that it won't for you?"

I was slightly taken aback at this mature side of Percy, but what he said made sense. I loved Fred and I would tell him that one day. Until then, I would stay happy with the knowledge I had and not wear myself out thinking of the right way to tell him.

"Thank you." I whispered, hugging him, before settling back down on the bench beside him. We just sat there in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the cold air stinging our cheeks and watched the other people in the park. There were a large number of couples walking around and lots of kids playing in the snow, but one particular couple caught my eye.

They were sitting on a nearby bench and holding hands, the girl's head was resting on her boyfriend's shoulder as they talked. He looked well-built, like Percy, and had this sort of rugged look about him with his blonde hair and a scar on his lip. She was really pretty, with her Native-American features, kaleidoscopic eyes and long brown hair that was braided in an intricate style I could never do. They made a really cute couple and I was about to point this out to Percy, but he had already noticed them. Smiling, he got up from the bench and ran over to them, pulling me along.

"Yo Jace! Pipes!" He yelled when we were a few feet away and they jumped, looking around for whoever had called them. The girl's eyes fell on us and she nudged her boyfriend who turned around as well, his face breaking into a grin. "Percy! Bro, it's been ages!"

They were soon so immersed in their conversation that they completely forgot about the two of us girls. We shared an eye roll, 'boys!', I held out a hand to the girl, "Hermione Granger."

"Piper McLean. Nice to meet you. Say, um, how do you know Percy?"

"I'm his cousin. Mum and Aunt Sally managed to get into contact years later, so we flew over to New York to celebrate Christmas together."

"You're British?"

"Yeah. Aunt Sally's lost her accent completely now, which Mum wasn't to happy about." We shared a laugh, before she said, "Seeing that they've completely forgotten about us, I'll introduce my boyfriend Jason. He and Percy are cousins-their dads are brothers. We all go to Camp together every summer."

Percy and Annabeth had mentioned this camp, saying it was for kids with ADHD or Dyslexia so I guessed that Piper was dyslexic, seeing that she wasn't constantly fidgeting like Percy did. Piper and I had a rather pleasant conversation about New York and our families, which lasted for quite a long time before the boys finally deigned to remember us.

Piper gave them a Professor McGonagall level look, which had the two boys looking like scolded children. "Sorry Pipes, it's been a long time since we last saw each other at Camp." Jason apologized. Percy nodded fervently, looking like a bobblehead with how fast his head was moving. It was then that Percy realized how long we'd been in the park and cursed in another language which sounded like Greek.

"Language, Percy!" Jason called out as my cousin started running towards the exit with me in tow. I paused to wave at the couple before following Percy back through the streets of New York.


	5. Percy - III

Thankfully, we got back home a few minutes before the adults showed up and Annabeth was soon back as well, right in time for dinner. Hermione and I had spent the entire day wandering around the city and Central Park and we were tired out, Hermione almost nodding off on the couch while Mom and Paul brought out dinner.

Annabeth told me about her day with Rachel Dare as she helped set out the plates. After the giant war, the gods had tasked Rachel, the Oracle, with painting murals and portraits to decorate the now fully-rebuilt Olympus. Seeing that Annabeth had been the one who designed the current Olympus, Rachel had been calling her over for advice quite often.

"How was your day? Hermione said you guys went to Central Park?"

"Yup. Crashed Jason and Piper's date as well." I gave her a lopsided grin.

Shaking her head in amusement, Wise Girl gave me a small kiss. "Never change, Seaweed Brain."

"I wont, don't worry."

* * *

Mom let Estelle open one present before taking her off to bed, saying, "She's a child, Percy. You aren't, so you're waiting till tomorrow like everyone else."

"Please mom?" I begged, putting on my best baby-seal face. Sadly, moms are immune to the persuasive power of baby seal eyes and all I got was a kiss from my girlfriend.

We all watched as Estelle ripped the shiny paper off the box to discover a pair of glow-up shoes for her. The tiny lights flashed and the shoes made squeaky noises everytime she walked in them. Estelle absolutely loved the squeaks and insisted on putting them on immediately, walking a few unsteady steps with her new shoes before falling back onto her butt. Instead of crying, however, this time she used the couch to pull herself up and toddled to her room holding mom's hand. The squeaky shoes seemed to be giving her an incentive to walk.

"She'll be running circles around you in weeks, Paul. Better be ready for that phase." Aunt Monica laughed, recalling old memories. "When Hermione was that age, she wouldn't sit still for five minutes. I remember a time when she was in such a hurry that she she ran out to play in the snow with only one boot on and then cried because her foot was too cold."

Hermione turned red at the story and it signaled the retelling of all of our embarrassing baby stories. Annabeth joined in by sharing stories of my biggest Seaweed Brain moments at camp and on quests. It was safe to say that at the end of story time my face was burning and I was ready to fall asleep and be done with this day.

The next morning, I woke Annabeth up by jumping on the converted couch that she was using as a bed and nearly got a knife lodged in my head for all my efforts. When she saw who it was, she pushed me off the couch and went back to sleep, muttering, "Five more minutes. Go away."

"Your hairstyle's really cute, Annie." I told her. "What?" She shot up in bed at the nickname and glanced into the small mirror hanging on the back of the front door. I had managed to sneakily tangle some leftover bits of glitter paper and pieces of ribbon into her hair and it fully resembled a bird's nest by now. She let out a small growl and pounced on me, pinning me with her weight and tickled me till I was begging for mercy. By the time everyone was fully awake and ready to open presents, the Grangers had come over and we all gathered in the living room.

Estelle was mesmerized by the brightly coloured gift wrappers and was looking at them with stars in her eyes. She sat by happily crinkling the shiny paper in her hands while we opened our gifts.

I opened the first one which was from 'Mione, to feel something soft. Confused, I put my hand into the box and pulled out a huge Nemo plushie.

"See, it matches!" Annabeth said, pointing to the Nemo Pajama pants that I was wearing. "Mione, I honestly think you're some kind of Seer." The girls giggled at my expense while Mom unwrapped her gift.

She took out a full set of books and smiled brightly when she saw the titles. "Where did you get these, Hermione dear? I've been looking for a good copy for months. All I found were the versions in Chinese."

"They were in Chinese, but a book-store owner in Diagon Alley offers translational services."

Aunt Monica liked the art supplies that I got her, while Uncle Henry was really happy with the set of medical books that Annabeth helped me pick out for him. When I gave her the small box from the jewelry shop, Annabeth smiled and gave me a kiss before putting on the locket. Paul gave me a subtle thumbs-up while everyone else 'Awwww'd.

Hermione had thought of amazing gifts for everyone, even managing to sneakily buy a couple of books for Annabeth at the store yesterday without either of us noticing. Just as I thought we were done, she pulled out a glass jar from her magic purse. There was a tiny little plant floating in the water inside the jar. I recognised it immediately, letting out a small gasp.

"Where did you-oh wait. Magic?"

She smiled. "Magic. There's an unbreakable charm on the jar, which means it won't break till the charm wears off in a few years. Also, you'll never have to clean out the jar or replace the water."

"What is it?" Annabeth asked.

"Aqueous Planarius. It's one of the rarest undersea plants in the world. I've been wanting to see one for ages. There are a few pictures in a book I got from Uni, but they're pretty much it."

Uncle Henry looked interested at that. "What are you planning to do in college?"

"I'm specializing in Marine Biology."

"And I'm going into Architecture." Annabeth added.

"You should see some of her designs. They're crazy good."

"We would love to. You know what? Between Luna and I, I think we could get you a one-day trip to Hogwarts. You'll love the architecture there." Hermione offered and Annabeth looked ready to scream out in joy. "Recently, there have been talks of starting a program where non-magical family members of Hogwarts students are allowed into the castle for a day every now and then where they can experience the pride and joy of Magical England."

My girlfriend shook her head. "I don't know if I will be considered for that. I'm a squib."

"A squid?"

"Not everything is water-related, Kelp Head."

Hermione patiently explained, "A squib is someone born into a magical family, but is unable to do magic. Kind of the opposite of what I am."

That makes sense. I nodded. "So, what happens to squibs?"

"It's sad, really. Most squibs are ostracized from wizarding society when they do not receive their Hogwarts letter at the age of eleven. They find it very difficult to adjust to the muggle world after spending their entire lives surrounded by magic. This is one of the key issues the Minister is currently dealing with. They're setting up homes for the Squibs where they teach them about both worlds and they are are then given the choice of where they want to live."

"That's wonderful news! The Minister must be a good man." Paul said.

Hermione nodded her head. "He is. Kingsley was third-in-command of the Order of the Phoenix, after Dumbledore and Moody and used to be head of the Aurors-"

"Aurors?"

"Wizard police. He's half-African, so he understands the prejudice in society and is trying to fix it."

Hermione had the same fire in her eyes that Annabeth had when she spoke about architecture, which told me how passionate she was about getting everyone the justice they deserved.

"Are you looking for a job at the Ministry, then?"

"I am. It was why I returned to finish school despite getting the offer to join the Aurors. I can do much more for the oppressed by working to change laws than go out chasing Dark Wizards and Witches."

The conversation, which had taken on a serious tone was interrupted by happy squealing from Estelle who had managed to crawl into the kitchen without anyone realising. We ran into the kitchen to see her happily licking what looked like strawberry jam from a bowl.

Mom shook her head in exasperation, saying, "I left that bowl on the counter. This little miss here somehow climbed up there and got it down."

"What was the jam for?" I asked.

"It's not jam. It's strawberry filling for the tarts." The tarts are in the oven, this was some of the leftover filling."

Paul lifted Stella from the floor, holding her far away from him as he took her to the bathroom to clean off the sticky filling, my little sister giggling and licking her sticky fingers the whole time.

We spent the next couple of days showing the Grangers around the city and having fun together, till it was time for them to leave. There were lots of hugs going around and promises to call and write letters, before I offered to drive them to the airport.

Hermione gave me a big hug just before entering the terminal, saying, "Come and visit us soon. I'd like to keep my promise to Annabeth and introduce both of you to my part of the world. Let's not become strangers like our mothers did, okay?"

"Promise. Besides, I've still got to meet this Fred of yours. And Harry, who apparently looks like me, and Ron and Charlie and Bill and Ginny. I think I can get Luna to convince some of her magical buddies to teleport us across the Pond every now and then."

She smiled from ear-to-ear, giving me a small kiss on the cheek before jogging off after her parents. I waved, saying goodbye to some of the few family members that didn't want to kill me within minutes of meeting them. I was gonna miss Aunt Monica and Uncle Henry, and definitely miss Hermione. It was really weird how well we got on with each other considering the fact that we met only a little more than a week ago. The three Grangers felt a lot more like family than half the people I had known for years, with 'Big Sis Mione' feeling quite natural. Sure, we were cousins, but I felt as close to her as I did Estelle. She was as good as my sister. 

I waved till they were out of sight before getting back into the car and driving home.


	6. Hermione - III

The day after we got back home, I went over to the Burrow to spend some time with everyone before returning to Hogwarts. Ron opened the door, his face morphing into an angry expression when he saw me.

"How dare you come back here after what you did?" He demanded, glaring.

I had no clue what he was talking about. "Ron? What do you mean by that?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, Ginny shoved him aside and opened the door wide, letting me in. She gave me a big hug. "No one believes him, 'Mione. Mum was mad at first, but we helped calm her down."

I was completely bewildered by now. "What are you talking about?"

By then, we had reached the sitting room, where Ron picked up a number of pictures from the table. "THIS!" He yelled, thrusting a stack of pictures at my face.

I took them from his hand, flipping through them. They were all pictures of mine and Percy's day in Central Park. There were a couple of us hugging, with one having us huddled together on a bench after the snowball fight. There was one of me smiling and talking to Jason and Piper with Percy's arm around my shoulder and a few more of us just walking in the park. To my surprise, the very last one was of me kissing Percy's cheek at the airport.

"Where did you get these?" I asked.

"SHE'S ADMITTING IT! FRED, I TOLD YOU SHE CHEATED-"

"I didn't cheat on anyone! What nonsense are you blabbering Ron?"

At Ron's loud yell, there were footsteps on the stairs and Harry, Charlie, George and Fred came running in, Fred looking a little worse for wear.

He looked at me uncertainly, before answering, "Ron followed Verity to New York. He said he saw you go into Central Park with a guy and you spent most of Christmas Eve there on a date with him. He showed us a Penseive memory and said that you were cheating on me."

I was horrified at that. It was quite obvious that Fred didn't want to believe it, but Ron was so loud and confident in his claims that it was quite convincing.

"I didn't cheat-"

"THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?!" Ron demanded, waving his wand over a pensive in the corner that I hadn't noticed earlier.

The scene from Central Park played out, me and Percy talking after the snowball fight.

_Percy was saying, "-Who knew you could be so romantic when you've been in just one relationship throughout your life, huh?"_

_"Aww, honey, that's so cute. But you've gotta remember that I'm a full year older than you. You're practically a baby!" My poor attempt at an American accent came through, making me blush at how bad it had been. Ron seemed to take my blush as an admission of my guilt and triumphantly smirked. It then showed me standing on tiptoe and pulling down the hood of Percy's jacket to ruffle his hair._

_"Mione!" He complained, dodging me as he tried to fix his hair, "I actually brushed it today morning!"_

_"You did?"_

_"Yep." I smiled fondly at the childish tone in which he spoke. "Mom wouldn't let me go out of the house looking like a 'delinquent' as she put it." He imitated Aunt Sally's voice, "If you're gonna spend the day with Hermione, then I want you to look presentable. No girl will agree to be seen with you in public if your hair looks like a rat's nest."_

_"Don't worry, Percy. I'll still walk with you if your hair looks bad. I don't mind how you look, but I will draw the line at spending a full day in the presence of a sweaty, smelly, teenage boy. There are enough of those that I'm forced to get along with at school, I can't do that during the holidays too."_

_Then came the next lines, "What if it were Fred here? By the way, when are you going to tell him your little secret?"_

_I groaned, burying my face in my hands. "I don't know. I'll have to figure out the right time to tell him and it had to be when we're alone, but that's difficult in a house with eleven people living in it. Right now, it looks as if I'll have to wait until the end of the holidays when he'll come to see me off on the school train. Hopefully, I'll be able to work up the courage to tell him by then."_

_Now it did make some sense as to how this could have been taken as an admission of the fact that I was cheating in Fred. It did hurt that Ron didn't trust me at all, though._

_Percy's voice was heard, "Look, I know you're scared of losing what you have with him because he won't like what you're telling him. Believe me, I've been in your shoes before. I spent ages thinking about the right time to tell her, before accidentally blurting it out as we went for a walk right here in Central Park. Well, it worked out for us in the end, so whose saying that it won't for you?"_

_"Thank you."_

The memory ended and the image sank back into the Pensieve.

"What was that? Was he trying to convince you to tell my brother that you were cheating on him? And by the sound of it, this Percy had already done this once to someone else-"

I slapped him right across his smug face. "Don't. You. Dare. Say. That. Percy is an amazing guy and I-"

"Of course he must be, if you're ditching your boyfriend for him."

This was making me lose my temper. Ron was going on and on without even giving me a chance to speak! "Silencio." I pointed my wand at him. The silencing spell worked and Ron was left angrily mouthing words which no one understood.

I turned to the others, "Sorry, he wasn't letting me explain. Now, I wasn't cheating on Fred-"

"Then who was that?" Ron had undone the silencing spell.

I whirled on him, barely restraining my anger. "Tell me, Ronald, do you consider yourself to be cheating on Lavender when you go out for walks with Ginny? Or go somewhere with Luna?"

"Of course not." He sounded offended, like I had accused him of murder or something.

"THEN WHY AM I CHEATING ON MY BOYFRIEND IF I SPEND SOME TIME WITH MY COUSIN WHO I'VE NEVER MET BEFORE?!" I yelled. Ron turned pale.

"C-C-Cousin?" He stuttered.

"Cousin. That's Perseus Jackson, my aunt Sally's son, but he usually goes by Percy-"

"What about the blonde kid?" He was grasping at straws by now.

"Honestly Ron? Are you so dumb to not realise that Jason and Piper were on a date that Percy crashed? Or did you assume I went on a date with Jason just because I smiled at him?"

He deflated a little. Harry interrupted to ask, "Hermione, the blonde guy and the girl with the choppy brown hair? That's Jason and Piper?"

"Yeah. Jason's Percy's cousin on his father's side. The three of them and Percy's girlfriend Annabeth-" I threw Ron a dirty look here, "-go to the same summer camp.

"Is Percy related to Harry or something? They look quite similar." That was from George. He was holding up a picture of Percy's face next to Harry's and comparing the two with a amused expression on his face.

"I don't know. Aunt Sally's a muggle, but I never met Percy's dad. Apparently it didn't work out, so they separated long ago. Aunt Sally married Uncle Paul a couple of years ago and they have a daughter, Estelle. She's adorable."

Ginny squealed. "A baby? Do you have pictures?"

"Yeah." I laughed, taking a couple out from my pocket and passing them around.

"How old is she?" Harry asked, smiling at the picture where Estelle had managed to get pudding all over her and was laughing.

"A year and a few months. She's beginning to toddle around too. Absolutely loved the baby boots Mum and Dad gave her."

At this, the Weasleys looked questioningly at me, but Harry grinned. "The light-up ones?"

"They also made little squeaky noises."

He nodded. "I got Teddy the same thing for Christmas. His hair kept changing colour to match the lights on the shoes."

"That's all well and good, but what were you talking about when you said you'll tell Fred?" Ginny interjected, looking strangely excited, as if she had guessed it.

I blushed a little. "That's something private which you lot don't need to know."

There was a wolf-whistle from George and Bill, who had just walked in with a very pregnant Fleur. Mrs. Weasley immediately began fussing over her daughter-in-law and Bill joined our group, grinning at my glare.

Fed up with the whole lot of them, I stomped upstairs, dragging Fred along with me. "Are you mad at me?" He asked, in a shy tone so unlike his usual antics.

"Did you believe Ron?"

"I didn't want to. I know you, 'Mione, and I know you would never do such a thing no matter the evidence. Everyone else except Ron and mum agreed with me."

"Your mum?"

"She's being very over-protective after Percy...you know... She was up in arms as soon as she heard the words Fred, girlfriend and cheat. Immediately started reassuring me that it was not my fault and that I should break up with-"

I was scared by that. "Please don't break up with me! I-"

In a sudden show of affection, he moved close, leaning down and pressing his lips gently to mine before pulling away. He opened his cupboard door and took out a small, wrapped box from it, giving it to me. "I'd be bloody mental to! You are the best thing that happened to me and I'm not losing you if I can help it. I just wanted to give you your present in person."

I cautiously opened the box, checking for pranks, but there were none. Lifting the lid, I let out a small gasp. "It's beautiful!" 'It' was an elegant golden bracelet, engraved with our names and had a miniature version of the Hogwarts Crest done in bright colours near the clasp.

He slipped it on my wrist, after which the Hogwarts Crest rippled and changed to display, _"Together forever."_

Overcome with emotion, all I did was yank him down to my level by his shirt collar and kiss him senseless. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against his and whispered, "I love you, Fred Weasley."

He smiled softly, whispering back, "I love you too, Hermione Granger." And I knew that despite his penchant for pranks and jokes, he really meant it.


	7. Hermione - IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for those who are a little confused about why Percy and Hermione call each other brother and sister. As someone who doesn't have any siblings, my cousins are the closest I'll get to them, so I consider my cousins as my brothers and sisters. I figured that Hermione and Percy would feel the same way. Sure, he has Estelle, but she's very young and Percy's still getting used to the idea of a younger sister. He doesn't count his cousins on his father's side as brothers and/or sisters, just good friends, so I feel that he'll consider Hermione as his sister.

The next three years passed by in a flash. I managed to graduate with straight O's and was immediately offered a position in the Ministry in the department in charge of drafting of new laws. I worked closely with representatives from various other departments at the Ministry and got their inputs and suggestions on new laws and reforms which were then taken to the Wizengamot for approval.

It was my dream job and I was enjoying it despite the late hours and the amount of work I had to do even at home. Fred and George had expanded the flat above the shop to a four bedroom house with a kitchen, living room and dining room and convinced George's girlfriend and me to move in with them. (he had broken up with Verity. They stayed friends and she still worked at the shop. He was now dating Angelina Johnson who used to be on the Golden Gryffindor Quidditch team as they now called the group.) I had no idea how Fred made my dad agree with the plans, but I wasn't going to argue with it. It was high time I moved out anyway.

Fred and I, both of us knew that we were in it for the long run. Neither of us had dated much before, me being too immersed in my books and him too busy causing chaos at Hogwarts, but us being together somehow felt right. My friendship with Ron had soured after he accused me of cheating on Fred with Percy, with Harry being angry at him for the accusations as well. We were no longer as close as we had been while in school and Ron had moved out of the Burrow and into a flat two years ago.

We often visited Molly and Arthur at the Burrow, and it was during one of these visits that I ended up sitting at the kitchen table and figuring out the wording for a new bill. It was to set up a public fund for Wolfsbane potion to make it available to all werewolves, as the majority of them couldn't afford the expensive potion despite their living conditions being so much better than before. There were also a number of discussions on starting a research team of Healers, Creature experts, Herbologists and Potions Masters to try and find a cure for Lycanthropy.

I was distracted from the heavy legal jargon by a loud crack, just like the sound made when someone Apparated. Looking up from the rolls of parchment, I had the shock of my life.

A small girl, around four or five years old was sitting on the kitchen table and grinning at me. "MY-KNEE!" She squealed, jumping at me.

The force of her hug nearly knocked me backwards, but I held on to her, recognising who she was.

The door to the kitchen banged open and Fred, Harry and Ginny ran in, wands drawn. They froze when they saw the girl who was hanging on to me like a monkey.

"Guys, calm down it's fine." I said.

"Did she just-" Ginny was looking flabbergasted.

"Apparate into the house? I think so." I answered, patting her head. "Hey, Stella?" For that was who she was. Estelle Blofis, my little cousin. She peeked out from where her head was hidden in my bushy hair, looking at the others. "Meet my friends Harry, Ginny and Fred."

"Hi." She said, giving a little wave.

"She's a witch?" Harry asked.

"A powerful one too. Apparition is very rarely done by accidental magic." Fred added, looking at Estelle in slight awe. She was unconcernedly looking at the three of them, her eyes lingering on Fred a little. She turned to whisper in my ear. "Do you like him?" She pointed a finger at my boyfriend.

"Like him?"

"Uh-huh. _Like_ like him? Like how Pewcy likes Annie?" She asked.

I stifled a laugh. "Yes. I _like_ like him."

She clapped her hands. "I'm getting another brother!" She announced.

The three others looked at me, confused. "Right. Sorry. This is my cousin Estelle and I have no clue how she got here. She's already adopted Fred as her brother."

"Why me?" Fred asked, "Not that I mind it, but why me?"

"Because My-Knee likes you silly! Pewcy likes Annie, so she's my sister and My-Knee likes likes you so you're my new brother! I like brothers, but I have only one!"

"I have so many brothers," Ginny said, holding her arms out wide to indicate the sheer number. "But no sisters. Will you share your sister with me?"

"Okay, but which one? I have thwee!" Estelle replied seriously, holding up three chubby little fingers. She started counting down, "My-Knee, Annie and Luna! I will share one of them!"

"They don't know Annabeth, honey. So you can't share her," I said, "What are you doing here?"

She didn't look very happy about the sudden change in topic. "We came on a ship to see you and Aunty Monica and Uncle Henwy! Mummy and Daddy went s-sh-shop-"

"Shopping?"

"Yeah! They went shopping and Pewcy and Annie took me to visit Luna and her Daddy. Annie showed me this house and said you were here, so I came when evewyone started talking about big-people things. I was bowed."

"Of course you were bored." I smiled, "C'mon, I'll take you back before Percy starts freaking out."

"I don't wanna! It's bowing there! I wanna stay with you!" She pouted, crossing her arms defiantly. I turned to face her to say no, but she was giving me the biggest puppy eyes I had ever seen. "Pwease, My-Knee... I have to sit quietly in a chair. Luna's daddy says that I can get huwt if I touch stuff. Can I stay with you pwease..." Her eyes were watering now.

Fred covered his eyes. "Gah! Let her stay Mione! You can't be cruel enough to say no to that face! Just look at her!" He gestured to Estelle, and my resolve crumbled in the face of her disappointment.

"Fine, you can stay. But I'm sending them a message to tell them where you are, okay?"

"Okay!" She grinned, jumping about. "Is it magic?"

"Yeah. You wanna see?"

She nodded eagerly. "Expecto Patronum!" The shining silver otter burst out of my wand and circled around us, Estelle giggling as it moved past her. I whispered the message to it and it went out of the window towards where I knew the Lovegood house was.

"Can I see it go?" She asked.

I held her hand, leading her to the front door. Just as I was about to open it, there was a knock on the door. I pushed Estelle behind me before opening the door, my wand gripped tightly in my hand. I got a brief glimpse of a tanned face and messy black hair before a frantic Percy started talking nineteen-to-the-dozen, blabbering on about how Estelle had disappeared.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Percy. I know where Estelle is."

"You'll help us find her? How-Wait, what?"

I pulled her out from where she was hiding behind me. Percy gave a cry of relief and scooped her up into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Don't you ever run off like that again, missy. Do you know how much you scared me?"

"Um, Percy... I don't think she ran off. She apparated onto the kitchen table." I said.

"Appa-what?"

"It's a form of travel by wizards and witches. A sort of teleportation." Harry said, coming into the room.

Percy looked at Estelle in his arms, then at me and then at Harry. "She's a witch?"

"Yeah. We think she did accidental magic and apparated here to see me." I explained at the same time that Fred asked, "You know about us?"

Percy nodded absently, still fussing over Estelle. "I've known for years. Annabeth's a Squid. Luna talks about you guys all the time too."

"Squib, Percy. Oh and Annabeth's his girlfriend. Stella calls her Annie." I explained to the others.

Ginny asked. "You know Luna? Luna Lovegood?"

"Why wouldn't I? She's nearly my sister-in-law now."

My eyes widened at the implications of the statement and I solidly whacked him across the head. "And you didn't even bother to tell us that you proposed? I swear, Percy, if Estelle wasn't here..."

"Whoa... Chill out, Mione," He raised his free hand in surrender, "It was only a fortnight ago. Half the reason why we came over was to tell you guys about it."

"And the other half?" I asked.

"Mom's got a book release and a signing or something in London."

Ginny looked surprised. "Your mum's an author?"

Percy nodded, "You might have heard of her? Sally Jackson-Blofis? She writes about the different mythologies and stuff. Her newest one is on Magic. Something about how stuff people thought was magic was actually science and the general opinions of magic throughout the ages, yadda yadda..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his head with his free hand, the other holding Estelle.

"You don't know what Aunt Sally wrote about?" I asked, amused.

"Nah. Not like I can read the books, so I don't bother much. She sometimes reads stuff out to me, but Annabeth's of more help."

The conversation lulled for a minute as we all stood awkwardly around, when the fireplace started ringing. Percy and Estelle watched in fascination as Andromeda Tonks' head appeared in it. "Harry, dear? Can you keep Teddy for a few hours? Nymphadora's at work and I just got an urgent call from the Ministry. Another one of those horrid Death Eater trials."

"Sure, Andy. Send him through."

Her head disappeared and after a couple of seconds gap, the loud whooshing sound signaled their arrival via the Floo network.

Andromeda cleaned the soot from her grandson's clothes and with a few admonitions of 'be good' and 'don't trouble Uncle Harry', she thanked us before throwing a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace, shouting, "Ministry of Magic, Office of Magical Law Enforcement!" The fire glowed green and she stepped through, vanishing.

"Wow!" Estelle squealed, wriggling in Percy's grip till he set her down. She ran over to Teddy and the fireplace, surveying it with interest. "Pewcy! They came out of fiyew!" She exclaimed excitedly. Teddy started in fright, running over to Harry and hiding behind his legs.

He chuckled at her excitement despite the slightly awestruck expression on his face. "They sure did, munchkin. What's it called?" He turned to me.

"Floo travel. You can step through to any place that's connected to the Floo network using a special enchanted powder." I told him.

He nodded, before turning back to Estelle, "Now come on, you've troubled Hermione and her friends long enough. We gotta go."

Her mood immediately did a one-eighty, her bottom lip jutting out and bright blue eyes filling with tears. "Pwease, bubba? I pwomise to be good."

He seemed to be caving, but cast a quick, questioning glance at us. I smiled, while Harry said, "It's fine mate, she can stay. Teddy here needs come company, don't you buddy?" He ruffled his godson's brown hair, said godson peeking out from behind him at the two unfamiliar faces.

"Play?" He asked timidly.

"Play." Harry agreed. "This is Estelle, Aunty Mione's cousin-you remember your cousin, right?"

"Dwaco?"

"Yup. Estelle doesn't want to stay with the boring adults, so why don't you take her up to the playroom and show her some of your toys?"

"Okay Unca Harry!" Teddy chirped, his hair turning bright blue, which we had learnt meant that he was happy. He held a hand out to Estelle, "Come on! I'll show my flying train set Stella!"

Percy gently nudged the toddler who was staring at Teddy's hair in unbridled awe, and she grinned from ear to ear, accepting Teddy's hand. Just as they ran out of the room, I heard her ask, "Why is you haiw blue?"

"I had the same question." Percy added once they had left.

"His mother was a Metamorphmagus. He's inherited the ability." Ginny told him.

"Meta-I'll never be able to say it- what is that?"

"It's someone who can change their appearance at will. Right now, he's too young to do much other than change his hair and eye colour; plus most of it's involuntary, reflecting his feelings. His mum-Tonks-can change her entire look, including her height so that she's completely unrecognisable." I explained.

"Whoa... That'd be so cool-"

"Back to the subject of the proposal." I interrupted. "I want details, Seaweed brain!"

"Um...details?"

"When, what, how?"

"Oh. About two weeks ago. We went to Camp for the day, where the others helped me set it up. Walk on the beach, ending in a picnic lunch. Popped the question when we were walking back."

"Good going, doofus. Who helped you plan it?"

He had an expression of mock offence at that. "I'm insulted that you think so low of me!"

I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Percy, I know you. Annabeth is 100 percent of your impulse control and the brains of the couple. That wasn't your idea. Who helped? Piper? Aunt Sally? Uncle Paul?"

He blushed. "Piper and a couple of her friends gave me the idea. Paul helped me man up and get the ring while Jason, Leo, Hazel and Frank set up the picnic."

Ginny laughed and congratulated Percy, Fred clapping him on the back and saying, "Congrats, mate. Why don't you bring your fianceé-" Percy blushed red at that word, "-over? We'd love to meet her. Tell Luna and Xeno that they're welcome too."

"You sure? 'Cause Annabeth's been waiting since forever to discuss some new book with Hermione. Once they start, it'll be a minimum of three hours before they're somewhat willing to rejoin the rest of us poor dumb normal mortals."

"Percy!" I exclaimed, swatting his arm as the others snickered into their hands. "That's not true!"

"Aw... 'Mione, don't deny it, love. We've known you far longer than Percy has. Promise to let me meet your cousin-in-law before dragging her off for educational conversation?" Fred said, smirking.

I playfully scowled at him, faking being angry. "Fine, you git. I promise."

"Great! Let's go then!" Ginny grinned, making her way out of the front door and grabbing Percy's sleeve to drag him along with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for those who're a little confused about why Percy and Hermione call each other brother and sister. As someone who doesn't have any siblings, my cousins are the closest I'll get to them, so I consider my cousins as my brothers and sisters. I figured that Hermione and Percy would feel the same way. Sure, he has Estelle, but she's very young and Percy's still getting used to the idea of a younger sister. He doesn't count his cousins on his father's side as brothers and/or sisters, just good friends, so I feel that he'll consider Hermione as his sister.


	8. Percy - IV

Ginny had been quite enthusiastic in inviting Annabeth to her house as she and Luna had been childhood friends. It had ended with the two of us returning to the Burrow with Annabeth, Luna and Luna's dad, Xeno in tow.

We had barely settled down in the living room when Hermione descended on us and kidnapped Annabeth to 'discuss some things I found while researching so-and-so'. One of the redheaded twins had called out after her, "See if you can figure out a way to fix those communication mirrors, while you're at it, love!"

From this, I deduced he was Fred Weasley. I looked at my sister's boyfriend with a critical eye, trying to figure out if he was good enough for her. From what I could see, he reminded me of the Stolls from back home, and I wasn't able to decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, the girls' disappearance upstairs meant that I was left alone to face the inquisition. I was literally bombarded with questions from everyone.

"What's your name?"

"How old are you?"

"How did you meet Hermione?"

"Are you a Muggle?"

"Is-"

"GUYS!" I finally yelled, "CHILL OUT! I'LL ANSWER YOUR DAM QUESTIONS!"

Thank the gods, they listened and shut up. "Thanks. Can we go one at a time?"

"Fine. Your name?" Ginny asked.

"Perseus Jackson, but I prefer just Percy or Jackson. And before you ask, I'm a year younger than Hermione."

"How did you guys meet?"

"Mom and Aunt Monica got in touch and decided to spend Christmas together with their families."

"Are you Muggle?"

"Muggle?" I frowned.

"Non-magical." Luna explained.

"Yeah. So are Mom and Paul. But it seems that Estelle's a witch?"

Our talk was interrupted by loud popping sound and the weirdest being I ever saw appeared out of nowhere in the room, a few feet away from me. "What the Hades?!" I yelled, scrambling away from whatever it was, barely stopping myself from drawing Riptide in self defense.

The 'thing' was around three feet tall and had bat-like ears, a huge head and eyes the size of dinner-plates. It bowed to me, saying, "Winky is sorry, sir! Winky is not wanting to scare you, sir!" in a really high-pitched but feminine voice.

"Um...Winky?" I asked weakly, looking around at the magic people who were laughing.

Luna took pity on me and said, "Winky is a house elf, Percy. House elves do the house work and help look after the kids in a wizarding family."

My heartbeat had calmed a little, so I faced Winky again and the despair on her face was heart-breaking. "It's alright, Winky. I've never seen a house-elf before, so you scared me a little when you appeared so suddenly. "

She looked happier at that. Harry asked her, "Is something wrong with the kids, Winky?"

"No, Master Harry. Young sir and miss are tired, so Winky is telling them to nap. They is just fallen asleep, Master Harry."

"Thank you Winky. Why don't you get some rest as well? I'm quite sure that keeping up with two energetic kids is tiring."

"Master Harry is very kind! Winky is honoured to serve Master Harry Potter!" She disappeared with another 'Pop!'.

I looked at Harry in surprise. "Is she hero-worshipping you?"

The entire room burst out laughing, while Harry turned a bright shade of red.

* * *

It was late evening when I finally managed to get Fred alone. He was getting a glass of water from the kitchen and I followed him inside, closing the door behind me. "So... Fred. Tell me one reason why you're good for Hermione?"

He looked surprised. "Excuse me?"

" I know it's a little late for a talk like this, but You, Fred Weasley, are dating my sister, Hermione Granger, who is in love with you and I want to know if you're leading her on."

"You're cousins!"

"Doesn't matter to us. She's as good as my sister. So..." I quirked an eyebrow expectantly.

"She's Mione!" He blurted out after a few seconds. "You just don't do that sort of thing to her! She doesn't deserve it! She's Hermione bloody Granger, Gryffindor's Golden Girl and the Brightest Witch of her Age. She could have any man she wanted and she chose me! I've had a crush on her since seventh year and I thought she'd been Confunded when she agreed to go out with me two years later, considering everything that happened..." I understood that he was referring to his brother's death.

"I was a complete wreck for weeks. She made sure I ate and slept enough and stopped me from working myself to a mental breakdown. She understood me better than my own twin and without her, I don't think I would have been this well-adjusted today. Believe me, Percy, I'm not planning to break her heart anytime soon."

Wow. I had not expected such honesty, but I was really happy for Mione. She had found the right guy for herself.

"Good for you, Fred. Because if you did, there wouldn't have been much left once we were done with you."

"We?"

"You honestly don't think that Hermione would take you lying to her about your relationship without retaliating, do you?"

He shuddered. "Definitely not. She's got a lot of tricks up her sleeve." There was a sudden mischievous glint in his eye. "What are you going to do when Estelle starts dating?"

I paled just thinking about it. My baby sister dating someone? "She is not going to date a boy, or a girl, for that matter, till she's twenty." I firmly declared.

Fred just laughed. "That's what my brothers and I thought, mate. Ginny started dating when she was fourteen, with three of us still in school with her. Think about it." He patted my shoulder and left the room, leaving me to suffer with the thoughts of my sweet, innocent little baby sister dating.

* * *

Estelle absolutely loved her day with Teddy Lupin and the Weasleys and insisted on going back there a few days later. Mom had a public book-signing in London that day which Hermione had promised to attend, so we decided to meet up there and go to the Weasley's place together. I was supposed to keep Estelle occupied and out of trouble till the interviews were over and the counter was opened for the signing.

Annabeth, Paul and Hermione's mom decided to stay, so 'Mione and I left the event once people started to get in line, slipping away to an abandoned alley from where Hermione teleported us to the backyard of her boyfriend's family's house. Estelle shrieked with happiness when she saw the house, letting go of my hand and running up to the front door. She had barely touched the obviously locked door when it opened and she ran inside, leaving the two of us in the dust.

Hermione laughed when she saw my surprise, "That was some more accidental magic. She managed to unlock the door on her own."

"How does this work, exactly? If she really wants something, it will happen?"

"In a way." Harry, who was coming out of the house to meet us, said. "Accidental magic is usually caused by an intense emotion or desire. My aunt cut my hair so short one time that I almost went bald and I spent the entire night dreading the teasing I would get in school the next day, only to find out that my hair had miraculously regrown in the night."

My cousin smiled, "The books from the topmost shelves would float down to me so I could read them, and a girl who was teasing me fell into a gorse bush and got severely scratched."

Harry grinned conspiratorially, "I set a boa constrictor on my bully of a cousin when we went to the zoo for his eleventh birthday. The glass for its habitat vanished when he pushed me to the ground and the snake scared him witless."

"Right." I remembered the strange stuff that had happened to me before I learnt who Dad was, so this must be something similar. "Is there any way to see that she doesn't get hurt or seriously hurt anyone else with her magic?"

'Mione paused for a few seconds before replying, "Most kids do little, weird things, like opening locked doors or making things change colour, which can be easily explained away or are just ignored by Muggles, so you don't have to worry about that. Her magic unconsciously reacts to her desires, helps her and serves the double purpose of keeping her safe. Just in case something really big happens, then the Accidental Magic Squad will show up and fix everything. Estelle won't get into trouble for doing magic until she starts school."

"So she'll be fine?"

Hermione linked her arm through mine and dragged me into the house. "She definitely will. Now stop pretending to be a responsible adult and let loose. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that your mental maturity is nowhere better than Fred or George's."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, "Is it a compliment or an insult?"

"Seeing that my loving girlfriend reminds me every day that Teddy is more mature than I am, I think it was meant as a thinly-veiled insult, O American Cousin." Fred replied, lying on the floor. "A three-and-half-feet tall whirlwind run through the house calling for young Teddy. She seemed rather excited."

I groaned, "Did she knock anything over?"

"Don't worry, mate. Tonks breaks more stuff every week than the rest of us put together. We charmed all the valuable stuff unbreakable years ago."

"Tonks?" I asked.

As if on cue, the fire suddenly turned green and the flames rose higher. With a roaring sound, a woman stepped out of it, tripping over the edge of the carpet and stumbling.

"Speak of the devil...Tonks! How was work yesterday?" Fred grinned at her.

"For Merlin's sake, Fredrick, I know you set your own hours! Why do you have to keep rubbing it in my face?" She demanded. "Hermione, control your man!"

All my dear sister did was snort, "Man?"

"Hey!" Fred protested. "I'm a man!"

"Fred, baby cousin over here is taller than you and dare I say it, slightly more responsible?"

"Baby cousin?" I asked, insulted, at the same time that Fred said, "I own and run an extremely successful business. What more responsibility do you expect, woman?" Tonks seemed to notice me for the first time, as she said, "You're Percy?"

Hermione gave Fred a blank look. "It's a joke shop, Fred. Filled with products you and George invented." She then turned to Tonks, "Yeah, this is Percy, my cousin. I would introduce you to Estelle, but she disappeared as soon as we arrived."

Tonks smiled at me and shook my hand. "So you're the famous Stella's brother?"

"Famous?" I blinked.

"Teddy hasn't stopped talking about his newest friend for the last couple of days. He's going to miss her when you go back."

"She's Teddy's mum." Hermione helpfully added.

"Oh. Actually, you might be seeing us around more often. One of my friends back home has offered to set up an international harbour-key, was it?"

"Portkey." Hermione corrected. "A voice-activated one, I assume?"

"Apparently. She said it can be used for a round trip every ten days. Besides, mom's books are doing great here in the UK. I expect she'll be hopping back and forth across the Pond more often now, especially since she's reconnected with Aunt Monica."

* * *

Hermione, Fred, Estelle and I had gone out for a walk that evening to the nearby village Otter St-something. We were returning to the Burrow (That was the Weasley house) when I heard a low growl nearby that made the hair on my arms stand on end.

Hellhound and by the sound of it, only one. "Hermione." I whispered to her. "Take Stella and stay away from the fight."

"What's happening?" She whispered back, lifting my sister onto her hip and drawing out her wand. Fred had taken out his wand and was cautiously looking around us. I pulled the cap off Riptide and had the familiar sword in my hands at the exact moment at which the Hellhound struck.

I batted aside its claws and narrowly escaped having my head bitten off. "Get back!" I yelled, not taking my eyes off the monster.

While I evaded its claws, looking for an opening to stab the thing, a number of brightly coloured spells hit the Hellhound. Sadly, the magic had no effect on the damn thing, but the flashes of light did distract the Hellhound long enough for me to slash through it's neck. It disappeared in a shower of gold dust and I turned to check on the others.

Fred was standing protectively in front of the girls, his wand pointed at the spot where the Hellhound just disappeared from while Hermione was maintaining some sort of a shield spell around the three of them "Is it gone?" she asked.

I nodded. "If it exploded into gold dust, it means it's gone."

They breathed sighs of relief and lowered their wands. Hermione checked my sister over while Fred asked me, "What the bloody hell was that, mate?"

I remembered the cover story that Annabeth and I had prepared for such situations. "I think you'll believe me when I say that I'm not exactly a normal muggle."

"Definitely."

"Umm... My dad, he's part nymph or mermaid or something; I'm not sure what. Though I haven't gotten magic from him, I can see magic stuff and most of the anti-muggle charms don't work on me. Technically, I'm somewhere in between a squib and a muggle, but I can use enchanted objects and stuff, like my sword here. I don't exactly advertise this fact-"

"-because you'll be labelled a 'half-breed'. Where did you learn to fight like that, though?" Hermione asked.

"Camp. We've got people like Annabeth and me as well as fully-fledged witches and wizards. They teach us to fight without magic, and we've found out that certain enchanted metals work better against monsters than guns or spells. It's too expensive and difficult to try and enchant all the bullets in a gun and they're not reusable, so we usually use swords or daggers. At a pinch, some of us resort to bows and arrows, but it's not when we have no other option."

"So your job is to fight these monsters? Because I haven't seen anything like that-" he waved his hand to indicate the Hellhound, "-before, and I grew up surrounded by magic."

"Not exactly. For some reason they can track people like me by smell and try to kill us. We need the weapons and skills to survive."

Fred asked, "Do you get any special abilities from your dad's side?"

I scratched my head, thinking about it a little, "I can swim really really well and hold my breath for ages. I'm a bit stronger than your usual guy as well, but it comes with a hatred of heights and being underground."

Fred nodded, looking slightly disturbed by the incident, but he didn't question me any further, accepting my explanation. We walked back in silence and Hermione dragged Annabeth and me to her room as soon as Estelle was playing with Teddy again.

"Spill." She ordered, glaring at us. "I recognised that as a hellhound from one of my books. Don't even try to deny it. Why the hell was an _ancient greek_ monster that isn't supposed to bloody _exist_ after you?"

I exchanged a glance with Annabeth, who vaguely gestured around the room. I had no clue what she meant, but Hermione apparently did, because she raised her wand and muttered a few words. Once she was done, my cousin folded her arms and tapped her foot on the floor, looking at us expectantly.

Annabeth finally said, "What else do you know about Greek Mythology?"

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on Wattpad and Fanfiction.net under the same username.


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